US suspends tariffs after Colombia agrees to deportation flights

The White House says the US will not move forward with tariffs on Colombia, after Bogota agreed to accept – without restrictions – deported migrants.

Donald Trump had ordered a 25% duty on all Colombian goods after its president blocked two military deportation flights from landing in the country on Sunday.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro had initially responded by saying that his country would accept citizens repatriated on “civilian planes, without treating them like criminals.”

The White House statement says Colombia has now agreed to accept migrants arriving on US military aircraft “without restrictions or delays.” Colombia said the dialogue would be maintained to “guarantee the dignity of our citizens.”

The White House hailed the agreement with Colombia as a victory for Trump’s hard-line approach, after the country’s leader traded threats on social media on Sunday.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said it had “overcome the impasse” with the United States just hours after Petro published a lengthy post on X condemning what he called Trump’s “blockade.”

Petro had previously denied entry to US military deportation flights, saying migrants should be returned “with dignity and respect.”

In response, Trump announced “urgent and decisive retaliatory measures” in a post on his social media site, including tariffs and visa sanctions.

Petro responded to X with a post announcing his own tariff and celebrating Colombia’s heritage.

“Your blockade does not frighten me, because Colombia, besides being a country of beauty, is the heart of the world,” he said.

Within hours, the two sides appeared to have broken ranks, and the White House said Colombia agreed to “all of President Trump’s demands.”

Trump’s proposed tariffs were “fully drafted” and would still be implemented if Colombia did not honor that agreement, according to the White House.

Trump also announced visa sanctions and enhanced checks on Colombians at the border. These will remain in place “until the first Columbian reload of deportees is completed successfully,” the White House said.

Colombia’s Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said the country “will continue to receive Colombians who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions, as citizens subject to rights.”

He added that Truro’s presidential plane is ready to facilitate the return of Colombians who would have arrived in the country earlier on banned military flights.

Murillo will travel to Washington for high-level meetings in the coming hours, according to a State Department statement.

The dispute between the two countries came after the Trump administration pledged to carry out “mass deportations.” The President signed multiple executive orders related to immigration on his first day in office.

Some of Trump’s executive orders were signed with the goal of expanding the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest illegal immigrants on American soil.

Federal agents conducted “targeted” immigration arrests in Chicago on Sunday, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.

US officials told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that agents accompanied him to “border raider” Tom Homan.

Homan said Congress should increase funding for the border effort, which included a need for 100,000 beds in immigration detention centers.

On Thursday, the US Congress Passed Rayleigh-Laken’s Lawwhich will significantly expand the power of immigration authorities to detain immigrants.

Democratic caucus member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the bill represents a “fundamental erosion of civil rights.”